Winthrop University
Department of History
Spring 2015
Office Hours:
Monday, 3:00-5:00 pm;
Tues, 1:00-2:00, 4:45-5:45 pm;
Thursday, 4:45-5:45 pm;
and by appointment
Gregory S. Crider, PhD
Bancroft 381
803-323-4816
criderg@winthrop.edu
History 610-001: Great Issues in American History
3 credit hours; CRN 22308
Monday, 6:30-9:15 pm
Bancroft 371
COLD WAR IN THE AMERICAS
This course is a study of the meanings and consequences of the Cold War in the American
hemisphere. Did this conflict between the two global superpowers emerging from World War Two have
distinctive meanings for the Global South and for Latin America in particular? What did the Cold War
mean for Latin America? Careful and critical study of primary and secondary sources will suggest a
variety of ways to read the Cold War.
While the long-standing relationship between the United States and Latin America will be
reviewed, the course will focus on themes and developments evident since ca. 1945: military
interventions, military dictatorships, social struggles, cultural transformations, economic structures,
ideological rivalries.
Expected learning outcomes for this course include an advanced ability to process and express
complex historical ideas, an expanded and deepened understanding of the history of relations between
Latin America and the United States in a global context, broadened familiarity with different approaches
to Cold War history and to concepts of revolution and counter-revolution, and a stronger critical analysis
of relevant political and cultural issues.
The course contributes to the History MA program learning objectives: 1) communicate
effectively core themes, ideas, and subject matter, in both written and oral form; 2) demonstrate an
advanced ability to comprehend and explain major issues in historiography; 3) demonstrate an
advanced ability to conduct independent research, applying basic research methods in history such as
using search tools, finding primary and secondary sources, and assessing critically those sources; 4) be
able to identify and master the historical literature of a specified field.
This course also participates in the Global Learning Initiative (GLI). All assignments and activities
involve global learning.
Course assignments, policies, notes
All course assignments are developed to promote and measure the specific goals and outcomes
mentioned above. There are five course requirements: class participation, historiography essay and
annotated bibliography, book review, research essay, and final exam. Class participation means
contributing your presence, thoughts, and voice to weekly discussions. To participate effectively
requires that you read and study critically all assigned readings and think about the issues posed by the
readings each and every week. Students will be asked to lead or co-lead discussions of readings.
Students also will be required to turn in occasional short written assignments in preparation for
particular discussions. Perfect attendance is expected; all absences significantly affect the class
participation grade.
The book review requires each student to write a 5-6 page (ca. 1500 words, typed, doublespaced) critical response to a scholarly monograph related to the student’s research essay topic. Use of
primary documents is required. Full guidelines will be distributed separately.
In the historiographical essay and annotated bibliography, you will identify at least fifteen major
monographic books or articles relevant to your research essay topic. Each bibliographic entry will be
annotated to indicate relevance to your topic. A three-page historiographical essay will explain how
these sources connect to larger historiographical trends and to your research essay. Full guidelines will
be distributed separately.
In the research essay, you will write a twenty-page (ca. 6000-7000 words) paper based
substantially on primary sources. Ideas for topics and for databases of primary sources will be discussed
in class. Full guidelines will be distributed separately.
The final examination will emphasize critical analysis and interpretation. Students will write
essays that address major issues raised in the assigned literature. Full guidelines will be distributed
separately.
If the instructor determines a need to modify any of the policies, events, or other items on this
syllabus, all changes will be discussed and announced during class. All students are responsible for
knowing these changes, regardless of attendance. The online version of the syllabus will be updated.
Honesty and original thought are essential to your education and to our learning community at
Winthrop University. As noted in the Student Conduct Code: “Responsibility for good conduct rests
with students as adult individuals.” The policy on student academic misconduct is outlined in the
“Student Conduct Code Academic Misconduct Policy” in the online Student Handbook, esp. pages 32-37
(http://www2.winthrop.edu/studentaffairs/handbook/StudentHandbook.pdf). In sum, plagiarism or
any form of cheating or dishonesty are contrary to our collective goals and will be reported and not
tolerated in this course.
Winthrop University is dedicated to providing access to education. If you have a disability and
require specific accommodations to complete this course, contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS)
at 323-3290. Once you have your official notice of accommodations from the Office of Disability
Services, please inform me as early as possible in the semester.
Grading: Book review: 10%; historiographical essay and annotated bibliography: 10%; research paper:
40%; class participation and presentation: 20%; final exam: 20%. All assignments must be completed to
receive credit and pass the course. Plusses and minuses will be used in assessing final letter grades.
Assigned books
Ariel C. Armony. Argentina, US & Anti-Communist Crusade in Central America, 1977-1984. Athens: Ohio
University Press, 1997. ISBN: 978-0896801967
Hal Brands. Latin America’s Cold War. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780674064270
Nick Cullather. Secret History: The CIA’s Classified Account of Its Operations in Guatemala 1952-1954.
Second Ed. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-0804754682
Gilbert M. Joseph and Daniela Spenser, Eds. In from the Cold: Latin America’s New Encounter with the
Cold War. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0822341215
Kirsten Weld. Paper Cadavers: The Archives of Dictatorship in Guatemala. Durham: Duke University
Press, 2014. ISBN: 978-0822356028
Additional articles, book chapters, and documents will be assigned and made available.
Schedule of classes
Week 1: Getting Started
12 January
Defining terms, establishing context
Week 2: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
19 January
No class
Week 3: Historiography and narrative
26 January



Joseph, “What We Now Know and Should Know: Bringing Latin America More Meaningfully into
Cold War Studies” in Joseph & Spenser, 3-46
M. Hogan. “The ‘Next Big Thing’: The Future of Diplomatic History in a Global Age.” Diplomatic
History 28:1 (Jan 2004), 1-21
Brands, Introduction & Ch. 1, 2, 3
Week 4: Literature and methodology
2 February


T. Blanton, “Recovering the Memory of the Cold War: Forensic History and Latin America” in
Joseph & Spenser, 47-76
O.A. Westad, “The Cold War and the international history of the twentieth century,” in M. P.
Leffler and Westad, eds., The Cambridge History of the Cold War, Vol. 1 (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2010), 1-19

Brands, Ch. 4, 5, 6
Week 5: Geopolitical context and Latinamericanization of the Cold War
9 February




Spenser, “The Caribbean Crisis: Catalyst for Soviet Projection in Latin America,” in Joseph &
Spenser, 77-111
P. Gleijeses, “The View from Havana: Lessons from Cuba’s African Journey, 1959-1976” in Joseph
& Spenser, 112-133
J. M. Hanhimaki and Westad, Eds., The Cold War: A History in Documents and Eyewitness
Accounts (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), select documents
Brands, Ch. 7, 8 & Conclusion
13 February (no later than 5 pm): Research essay proposal to turnitin.com
Week 6: Documentary case study: Guatemala, 1954
16 February

Cullather, Secret History
Week 7: Cultural context and transformation
23 February







S. Fein, “Producing the Cold War in Mexico: The Public Limits of Cover Communications” in
Joseph & Spenser, 171-213
E. Zolov, “¡Cuba sí, Yanquis no! The Sacking of the Instituto Cultural México-Norteamericano in
Morelia, Michoacán, 1961” in Joseph & Spenser, 214-252
S. Bachelor, “Miracle on Ice: Industrial Workers and the Promise of Americanization in Cold War
Mexico” in Joseph & Spenser, 253-272
S. Pitti, “Chicano Cold Warriors: César Chávez, Mexican American Politics, and California
Farmworkers” in Joseph & Spenser, 273-307
“Birth Control Pills and Molotov Cocktails: Reading Sex and Revolution in 1968 Brazil” in Joseph
& Spenser, 308-349
C. McAllister, “Rural Markets, Revolutionary Souls, and Rebellious Women in Cold War
Guatemala” in Joseph & Spenser, 350-380
Spenser, “Standing Conventional Cold War History on Its Head” in Joseph & Spenser, 381-396
27 February (no later than 5 pm): Historiographical essay and annotated bibliography due to
turnitin.com
Week 8: Alternative narratives of the Cold War
2 March

Weld, Paper Cadavers, Part I
Week 9: Guatemalan perspectives
9 March

Weld, Paper Cadavers, Part II
12 March (no later than 5 pm): Book review due to turnitin.com
Week 10: Spring recess
16 March
No class
Week 11: Documentary workshop
23 March
Cold War in film and documents [reading tba]
Week 12: Far reaches of the Dirty Wars
30 March

Armony, Argentina, U.S. and Anti-Communist Crusade in Central America
Week 13: Legacies of the long Cold War
6 April



G. Rénique, “’People’s War,’ ‘Dirty War’: Cold War Legacy and the End of History in Postwar
Peru” in Grandin and Joseph, Eds, Century of Revolution: Insurgent and Counterinsurgent
Violence during Latin America’s Long Cold War (Durham: Duke University Press, 2010), 309-337
F. Hylton, “The Cold War That Didn’t End: Paramilitary Modernization in Medellín, Columbia” in
Grandin and Joseph, 338-370
Joseph, “Latin America’s Long Cold War: A Century of Revolutionary Process and U.S. Power,” in
Grandin and Joseph, 397-414
8 April (no later than 5 pm): Research essays due to turnitin.com
Week 14: Paper presentations
13 April
Read and discuss research papers
Week 15: Paper presentations
20 April
Read and discuss research papers
Week 16: Paper presentations
27 April
Read and discuss research papers
Week 17
4 May FINAL EXAM